


Something That Got Away

by Thinking of Theo (mjsakurea)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Teen Wolf 6B, Thiam, canon divergent a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-10 09:36:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11688927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mjsakurea/pseuds/Thinking%20of%20Theo
Summary: Set after season 6 episode 11, so spoilers if you have not seen the episode yet.What if the new hellhound in Beacon Hills is after Theo? He did escape from another world after all. What will Liam and the rest of the McCall pack do after they realize who the new hellhound is after?





	1. The New Guy in Town

Summer was almost over, lacrosse practice was starting again, and Liam did not want to go to it.

Mason and Corey did everything they could to convince Liam to get out on the field. Practice had started already and their friend was not even in his uniform. Scott, the new assistant coach was getting impatient and had started texting Mason and Corey to hurry up and drag Liam out of the locker room.

“I can’t handle this,” Liam wailed.

“Yes, you can, and you’ve handled so much worse than this. You’re practically the Alpha now,” Mason said as he pulled Liam into a sitting position on the locker room bench.

“I’m nothing without her,” said Liam.

“Liam, can you help me with this, please,” said Corey trying to help Liam into his lacrosse gear.

“Hayden left me,” Liam said.

“She moved to protect her sister, it’s not like she dumped you or anything,” Mason said, trying to encourage his best friend.

“Why is your arm so heavy?” Corey asked randomly.

Just then, Mason’s phone vibrated. “Okay, Scott said Coach is losing it.”

“Scott’s leaving, too!” Liam exclaimed. He felt like everyone in his life was leaving him.

“Going to college is not leaving, okay? It’s called growing up and we’re all going to be going to different colleges eventually,” Mason said.

“I thought we were both applying to UCLA?” Corey asked Mason while Mason tried to signal him to cut it out.

“You guys are going to the same college?” Liam asked both of his friends with a betrayed look in his eyes.

“That is _not_ the point!”

“What is the point?” Liam asked as his friends started dragging him across the locker room.

“The point is that summer’s almost over, we’re about to be seniors, this is about to be the best year of our entire lives, and you’re still captain of the lacrosse team, so come on, you’ve got to-” Mason was cut off as Liam’s lacrosse stick got stuck on the door and him and Corey both fell over with Liam on top of them.

While still on the floor, Mason got another text from Scott.

“Coach is making Diaz captain!”

That got Liam’s attention.

He rushed out onto the field in about the time it took just for Corey and Mason to get off the floor. He was just in time to block a ball from heading straight into the goal. Overwhelmed by the awesomeness of that save, he did not notice the rival player heading towards him as he ran down the field. Liam was promptly tackled and flipped over by the other teammate. Liam was enraged by the surprise tackle and felt his control slipping.

Scott blew his whistle and ran out to Liam trying to get him to calm down and control himself before he turned into a full-blown werewolf in the middle of the lacrosse field.

After noticing the shocked look on everyone’s faces, Scott noticed the actual real-life wolf on the field. After following the wolf back into the forest and seeing all the other dead wolves, Scott and Liam knew there was something weird going on yet again in Beacon Hills.

 

The next day was class registration for senior year. After that was over Mason and Liam tried to find books on mythology to see if they could find any clues to the weird event that happened the night before. However, once they got to the mythology and superstition section, they noticed that all the books had be cleared out completely.

“Maybe someone is writing a paper on mythology and superstition or like a hundred papers,” Mason said.

After hearing a scream, Mason and Liam rushed into the classroom of its origin and said what had to be hundreds of rats scrambling around the floor.

“Looks like we’re going to need a book on rats, too,” said Mason.

 

Mason and Liam decided to investigate further and look for the source of the rats. They ended up in a series of tunnels connecting to the school’s air and water systems. It looked awful down there and smelled even worse. They came across a disgusting sight, Mason called it a rat king. It was a bunch of rats with their tails all intertwined, they were all dead and bloody. After consulting Malia, they knew that these rats smelled like fear. What they feared, Liam and Mason did not even want to know.

 

Mason thought it would be a good idea to take one of the dead rats to Mrs. McCall to hear her thoughts on what happened to it. Liam went along with him. Once they got to the hospital, there was already a massive amount of people there. They did not know why all the people were there, but clearly, Mrs. McCall was too busy to help them out.

She was in the middle of trying to stop two patients from fighting when Liam decided to help her out. Getting in between the two men, Liam tried to push them apart only to be punched directly in the nose by the man he was facing. This was the second time recently that Liam was losing control of the werewolf side of him as his eyes turned yellow and his claws dug into his palms, making them bleed.

He quickly rushed away from the scene as to not be noticed by any innocent bystanders. As he made his way into an elevator, he had no idea that he was being chased by an unknown enemy, but luckily, the elevator doors closed before the strange man could get to Liam. Liam could safely calm himself down in the elevator. Repeating his mantra, “the sun, the moon, the truth,” he could feel his claws turning into to normal finger nails again.

After the incident at the hospital, Liam and Mason headed to the school. As they were walking through the halls, Liam thought he could hear voices. One of the voices sounded like Parrish, but he did not recognize the other voice.

Parrish’s voice became clearer as Liam got closer.

“Okay, so what are you here for? What are you protecting? Or is it something you’re hunting, something that got away?” Parrish asked whoever was with him.

Just then, Liam and Mason burst through the door leading into the hallway Parrish was in. There was a strange man with him that neither of the boys recognized, but Liam thought he smelled slightly familiar. The newcomer looked at Liam and Mason and growled.

“Something you let out. It must be stopped,” he said ominously.

“Is he talking to you?” Mason said to Liam.

“I hope not,” Liam said and swallowed loudly. He did not know what the strange guy was talking about but he was staring at him and it creeped Liam out. Not a minute later, the stranger’s eyes started glowing fiery red. Liam knew what he was now, he was another hellhound, just like Parrish.

Before he had much time to process the new information, both Parrish and the new hellhound burst into flames. Liam moved to get in front of Mason to protect him as both hellhounds started fighting. They were going at it mercilessly, crushing lockers and school equipment in their wake. Growls could be heard everywhere and sparks flew off them wildly.

It looked like the new hellhound was getting the upper hand as he slammed Parrish onto the ground. Picking him up with his claws, the stranger flung the deputy across the hall and through the outside doors into a brick wall. Parrish’s flames went out as he was knocked unconscious. Liam hoped he was only unconscious.

With a look of victory, the new hellhound turned to Liam and Mason.

“Run!” Liam yelled at Mason. He knew his human friend stood no chance against a hellhound. Liam did not know if he even stood a chance but he was going to try and fight the enemy anyway. His eyes turned yellow as he embraced his werewolf side and roared at the hellhound. Liam ripped a locker door off its hinges and swung it at the man. He hardly flinched at the attack and soon slammed Liam up against the lockers.

“You were supposed to stay where you belong,” the hellhound roared at Liam. Then the stranger paused like he was listening for something.

“No,” he growled, “No, it’s not you, but you reek of it.”

Liam had no reason what the man was talking about, he thought he was crazy or something.

The hellhound reached his hand up, looking like he was going to claw Liam’s face off right then and there. Just when Liam thought he was done for, Mason came up from behind the hellhound and swung Stiles’ baseball bat at the enemy. However, the new hellhound was too quick and he grabbed the bat and quickly melted it. He flung Mason away from him and knocked him out, but while he was distracted, Liam was able to get free and he started attacking the hellhound again.

Going at the enemy with all his strength, Liam could barely keep up with him. Liam clawed the hellhound, and the hellhound clawed him back. Liam’s chest burned in agony but he knew he had to keep fighting. Liam was finally able to get the upper hand as he jumped up and punched him with all his power. The hellhound fell to the ground laughing.

“It won’t stay hidden. It must be stopped. Nothing else matters,” the strange hellhound said.

Liam could hardly pay attention to what he said, he was in so much pain. He closed his eyes and repeated his mantra as Mason woke up and sat next to him. When Liam opened his eyes, the hellhound was gone, leaving a bloody stain behind.

He had to call Scott and tell him what happened. Liam did not want to call him because he knew Scott and Lydia were leaving for college that night, but he figured a new evil hellhound in town was probably a good enough reason to delay his Alpha. Liam sent Scott a quick text, “Meet me at the school ASAP, it’s an emergency.”

Mason was bandaging up Liam’s injuries in the boy’s locker room when Scott, Lydia, and Malia arrived.

Scott being the normal worried Alpha he is rushed to Liam after he saw that he was hurt.

“Liam, are you okay? What happened?”

“There’s another hellhound. I injured it but it got away. It knocked Parrish out,” Liam explained.

“Yeah, and he was saying some weird stuff,” Mason added.

“What kind of weird stuff?” Malia asked.

“He said like, ‘You let it out, it must be stopped,’ to Liam,” Mason said.

“Wait, that’s exactly what I heard in my vision,” Lydia exclaimed.

“What?” Scott asked.

“I had a vision while I was at your house and I heard a voice say, ‘You let it out.’ I don’t have any idea what the ‘it’ it’s talking about is though.”

“The hellhound thought it was me at first but then he said I wasn’t it but that I smelled like it. I don’t understand this guy at all,” Liam said.

“Parrish thought the new hellhound was hunting something, something that got away,” Mason said.

“Do you think he is talking about the Wild Hunt? A lot of people escaped from there, maybe it’s hunting one of us that got out of the Wild Hunt? Oh no, what if he’s after Stiles?” Lydia questioned.

“Why would I smell like Stiles?” Liam asked.

“I don’t know, it’s just a thought. Another thing I heard in my vision was that we opened a door to another world. Maybe the hellhound is after what came out of the other world.”

“But if he’s talking about the Wild Hunt, we all came out of the Wild Hunt, wouldn’t he want to attack all of us then?” Scott said.

“Guys, I think I know what he’s after,” Liam said. “I think he’s after Theo.”


	2. He's after Theo

“Guys, I think I know what he’s after,” Liam said. “I think he’s after Theo.”

“What? Why would he be after Theo,” Scott asked.

“It all makes sense, the hellhound looked directly at me and said, ‘you let it out.’ I was the one that let Theo out of Hell. Like Parrish said, he’s hunting something that got away. Theo got away. The name hellhound probably has the word Hell in it for a reason, he’s probably looking for someone that escaped from Hell, like Theo!” Liam was sure his theory was right. He just had to get everyone else to believe him.

“That does make sense,” Lydia agreed.

“But wait, if he _is_ after Theo, why would he say you smell like him?” Scott asked.

Everyone looked at Liam dramatically after Scott said that.

“Well, ummm. It may or may not be because Theo’s been staying at my house,” Liam blurted out hurriedly.

“What?” everyone exclaimed practically simultaneously.

“So that’s why you never let me come over to your house anymore,” Mason said.

“Mason you’re not helping, shut up!” Liam said.

“How long has he been staying there? Does your dad know about him?” Scott asked.

“Since the Wild Hunt left. No, my dad doesn’t know. What else was I supposed to do? He doesn’t have anywhere else to stay and he technically is my responsibility so I have to keep a close eye on him.”

“He’s been here the entire summer? I thought he left Beacon Hills or something,” Scott said.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. We should be heading to my house right now to warn Theo about this new hellhound,” Liam said.

“Why should we even care about warning Theo? That hellhound should just go ahead and kill him, in my opinion,” said Malia.

“I don’t know if you forgot, but he helped save everyone from the Wild Hunt. He saved my life multiple times. I trust him,” Liam said.

“If Liam trusts him, that’s all I care about. I think we should stop that hellhound if he really is trying to kill Theo, it’s the right thing to do,” Mason added.

“As much as I don’t trust Theo, it is our job to protect the people of Beacon Hills, even if that includes Theo,” Scott said. “We should head to Liam’s house right away. If he picked up Theo’s scent, the new hellhound might be headed there, too, so keep an eye out for him. Mason, Liam, we’ll follow you there.”

Liam walked towards Mason’s car quickly even though he was still injured. His friend was practically jogging to keep up with him.

“Woah dude, slow down, you don’t want to hurt yourself even more than you already are,” Mason said. “Why are you in such a hurry anyway? I’m pretty sure we can beat the hellhound to your house seeing that we have cars and he’s going on foot. Plus, he probably doesn’t even know Theo is at your house right now, which still makes no sense to me.”

“I’m worried about my dad. What if the hellhound gets there before us and decides to attack him? He doesn’t know anything about the supernatural, he’d be defenseless.”

While Liam was worried about his dad, he was worried about Theo, too. He felt that he should not share that information with Mason though. It seemed like no one understood Theo like Liam did. As much as Liam wished they would, none of his friends trusted Theo. Liam did not trust Theo at first either, but after Theo saved his life multiple times during the Wild Hunt, he realized that Theo had changed. It was not until Theo started living with Liam that he realized why he had changed so much.

* * *

 

The night after they had defeated the Wild Hunt, Liam went home and Theo just kind of followed him there. Theo had been following him a lot since Liam released him from his imprisonment. Liam did not really mind since he had been told multiple times that Theo was his responsibility and whatnot. He figured everyone would get mad at him if he lost track of the devious chimera.

Liam’s dad was working the night shift that night so he was not home, luckily. Liam got himself cleaned up and gave Theo the chance to do the same since he did look filthy, which was unusual for his normal fashionable self. Liam let Theo borrow some of his clothes since his were ruined. Theo was a little bit shorter than Liam but his clothes fit pretty good on him.

After getting cleaned up, both boys dropped down on the couch with a sigh. It had been a long few days and Liam guessed that Theo was as exhausted as he was. Liam had almost fallen asleep before a loud growl woke him up. Looking at Theo, he noticed the chimera was fidgeting awkwardly and holding his stomach. Liam realized it was Theo’s stomach that had growled. Liam would have laughed at how embarrassed Theo looked, but then he realized that Theo had probably not eaten much or anything at all since he was released from Hell. As soon as Liam let him out, they had put him to work trying to catch a ghost rider, and then they had put him in a cell at the police station, and as soon as he was let out of that Liam and Theo had to run for their lives from the ghost riders. Theo had probably been starving the entire time and no one offered him anything to eat. Liam looked at the floor in shame over how awfully he and his pack had treated Theo over the past few days.

“I know this diner that’s open 24/7. I’m pretty hungry, too, so we should go. I’ll pay, it’s the least I could do to repay you for saving my life back there.”

“That would be great. Thanks,” Theo said timidly.

The drive to the diner was silent. Liam still could not stop thinking about Theo. He felt bad for how badly he treated him, not just by not giving him any food, but with all the awful things he said to him, too. He had said that Theo deserved whatever Hell he was sent to and that Liam should have sent him back down there. Liam remembered the way Theo tensed up when he said those words. Liam did not stop there either, he said that he was going to use Theo as bait for the ghost riders, he said he was not going to help or save the chimera because he knew that Theo would not lift a finger to save him. Liam was wrong, though. Theo had helped and saved him multiple times that night. He remembered Theo throwing him into the elevator and then taking on the ghost riders alone. Liam had called Theo a coward earlier, but at that moment he realized just how wrong he was. He was devastated when he heard Theo’s shouts of pain from outside the elevator door. After hearing gunshots and then silence, Liam thought for sure Theo was gone.

However, he was not gone, he showed up again and saved Liam from being strangled by a ghost rider. It would have been easy for Theo to run away and never return to Beacon Hills after surviving the hospital, but he did not run away. Theo came back for Liam. Liam did not even thank him after Theo saved his life, he just jumped on a horse and flew right into the hunt to save Hayden. He could not have saved Hayden without Theo.

“Thank you,” Liam said quietly.

“What for?” Theo asked back.

“I never thanked you for saving my life earlier today, and I’m sorry for all the crappy things I said to you back at the hospital, you were nothing but helpful, you didn’t deserve all those things I said.”

“It’s okay, I deserved most of what you said, you don’t have to apologize.”

“No, I do need to apologize. I’m sorry, I hope I can make it up to you.”

“Okay, you can make it up to me by buying me food.”

“I already said I was going to buy you food.”

“You’ll buy me as much food as I want,” Theo said and looked at Liam hungrily.

“Okay, fine. You can have whatever you’d like.”

When Liam had said Theo could have whatever he’s like, he did not expect Theo to order three cheeseburgers, curly fries, and a large strawberry shake. Liam could only stare as Theo ate ravenously. He ate all his food in less time than it took Liam to eat one burger. Liam guessed that his hunch was right and that no one had given Theo food since Liam set him free from Hell.

“Are you going to eat those?” Theo asked as he pointed to the order of fries that had come with Liam’s burger.

Worried that if he refused, Liam might get eaten instead, he quickly shook his head. Theo smiled a little half smile that he always does and devoured the rest of Liam’s fries.

 

* * *

 

After the expensive trip to the diner for Liam, they went back to the house. Liam quickly collapsed on his bed before remembering his manners.

“We have a spare mattress in the basement I can grab for you and I can get some extra blankets and stuff if you want to stay here,” Liam said to Theo who was standing around Liam’s room rather awkwardly.

“I’m good, thanks though, I think I’d rather just keep watch tonight. There could be some stray ghost riders hanging around, better safe than sorry. I’ll be on the roof if that’s okay.”

As soon as Liam gave him permission to, Theo had already climbed out the window and onto the roof. Liam did not think anything of it and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning was the last day of school for Liam. Realizing he would be late if he did not hurry, Liam jumped out of bed instantly. He dismissed the weird events of the night before as a dream and went about his day as normal. Returning home, however, he realized that what happened last night was not a dream and Theo was still, in fact, at his house. Liam felt slightly bad for leaving without even seeing if Theo was okay or if he needed anything.

The main reason Liam realized he was not dreaming about Theo being at his house was the fact that Theo was currently fast asleep on Liam’s bed. He looked so different when he was asleep, he looked so peaceful compared to the normal brooding chimera he was when he was awake. He seemed peaceful until Liam had to ruin it.

“Theo. Hey, Theo, wake up. Are you hungry? My dad’s probably going to be home from work soon so if you want something you should probably eat now so he does not get suspicious. Theo?”

As soon as Liam said his name, he could hear Theo’s heartbeat speed up. Then he started jerking his legs like he was trying to run away from something in his sleep.

“Don’t, please, don’t. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. You don’t have to stop. I’m sorry,” Theo mumbled.

Liam grabbed Theo’s shoulder trying to wake him up, but he almost jumped out of his skin when Theo bolted upright in bed, clutching at his chest and breathing heavily.

Finally noticing that Liam was there, Theo realized he was dreaming and managed to calm himself down.

“Sorry about that. It was just a dream,” Theo said. He did not know if he was saying that to Liam or saying that to reassure himself.

“That seemed like more than just a dream. What’s up with you?”

“I’m fine,” Theo said harshly.

“I don’t believe you. You said that at the hospital, too. You didn’t look fine then, and you don’t look fine now.”

At that Theo jumped up from the bed and stood nose to nose with Liam.

“Well maybe if you had your dead sister rip out your heart endlessly for six months, you wouldn’t be fine either!” Theo shouted at Liam. Realizing that he had said to much, Theo slumped back down on the bed with his head in his hands.

Liam was too stunned at the sudden outburst to think for a few seconds before Theo’s words sunk in. Once his brain processed what the chimera had said, Liam sat on the bed next to him.

“Is that what was happening to you when you were down there? I had no idea.”

“I would wake up in a body locker in the morgue and as soon as I got out I would hear her voice. I couldn’t run, I couldn’t hide, I couldn’t do anything to make her stop. She looked just like I remember her when we were kids only she looked older. She still had a bloody hole in her chest though, and I couldn’t hear a heartbeat coming from her. She would grab me and drag me to the floor. Then she would kneel over me and rip out my—no, her—heart. I would stay conscious for a few agonizing seconds, just watching as she held it in her hand. Just when I thought it was over and I finally died, I would wake up in the same goddamn body locker and everything would start all over again like it was goddamn Groundhog’s Day.”

By the time Theo had finished his story, his head was still in his hands and he was shaking violently. He kept mumbling repeatedly, “I’m sorry,” and “I couldn’t make her stop.”

Liam honestly had no idea what to do at that point. He was internally panicking. He thought to himself that the only thing worse would be is Theo was crying. Liam panicked again. Theo could be crying for all Liam knew, he could not see his face because he was still leaning over with his head in his hands. Not knowing what else to do, Liam pulled Theo’s shoulders up and hugged him tightly.

Liam could feel Theo freeze at the sudden hug. Liam’s immediate thought was, “Oh my God, I’m hugging Theo Raeken, Scott’s going to kill me.” But then it occurred to Liam that this was probably the first time anyone had hugged Theo in a long time. At that point Liam also realized that the hug had gone on longer than what was generally socially acceptable and he released Theo from his grip.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, I just didn’t know what else to do,” Liam said hurriedly.

“It’s fine. Thanks,” Theo said while looking at the floor, but Liam could see a slight smile on his face. He was happy if he could make Theo feel better, even if just a little bit.

Ever since that day, Liam’s thoughts about Theo had changed drastically. He felt like he finally understood the mysterious chimera as a person. Liam realized that Theo had not just changed because he did not want to be sent back to Hell, but because he was genuinely regretful of his past actions. Liam had let Theo stay at his house since that day, which was why the whole pack was on their way there now to warn him about the new hellhound that may or may not want to hunt Theo down and kill him. However, when they arrived at Liam’s house, Liam was worried to find that he could not pick up Theo’s scent at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That flashback was way too long, sorry about that. I just got on a roll and I could not stop. I was going to end the chapter after Theo stole Liam's fries but I did not want it to be confusing by ending the chapter while still in the flashback, so the result was a really long chapter. Oops. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.


	3. The Bridge

Theo wandered through the woods of Beacon Hills. He was tempted to send Liam a quick text to say he was going to be gone for a while that night, but he figured Liam was probably busy with his friends or at lacrosse practice.

The last thing Theo wanted to do was bother Liam after he had been generous enough to let Theo crash at his place for practically the whole summer. In all honesty, Theo had no idea what he would have done if Liam had not let him stay. He probably would have ended up sleeping in his car or something. That would not have been pleasant.

Theo figured that letting his mind wander while wandering in a dense forest was not the best of ideas, so he cleared his thoughts and continued his journey. It was not like Theo could really get lost in the preserve; he knew the woods of Beacon Hills like the back of his hand. He could probably get to where he was headed with his eyes closed. He knew he could make it with his eyes closed now as he could hear the trickling of the stream already. He was almost there.

A cold breeze rustled the leaves on the ground. I was almost fall. The leaves on the trees were already starting to change colors. Greens were fading into every imaginable shade of orange, yellow, and red. Theo would have loved this time of year, if it were not for the painful memories that came with it. Around this time of year, the streams and rivers of Beacon Hills were growing colder, too cold for any normal person to survive for long in.

It was getting close to the anniversary of Tara’s death. Theo knew he would never forget the day he killed his sister. He had done nothing except watch her freeze to death. The memory was vivid in his mind. It should have been him instead, Theo thought. He wished he could have taken her place that day and died instead of her. She had always been smarter, more kind, and more selfless than him. He did not deserve to live with what he had done to her, how much he had betrayed her. Theo hoped that someday—if she was somewhere watching him right now— she could forgive him for what he had done. Theo wanted to make it up to her somehow, which was why he was headed towards the site of her death with her favorite flowers, white lilies, hoping that he could slowly atone for his sins. He knew that mere flowers would never free him of his guilt, but it did make Theo feel a little better when he was feeling especially guilty.

Reaching the bridge, he leaned over it, staring into the stream of water below. One by one he pulled the lilies out of the bouquet and dropped them into the water. It was a ritual he had done before many times, and he would probably continue with it for as long as he stayed near Beacon Hills. Part of him wanted to leave Beacon Hills forever to try and forget about his past, but he knew he would always return. There was no place else he could go. He could never leave Tara.

Unexpectedly, Theo’s mind jumped to another person that kept him glued to Beacon Hills like a bug stuck in amber: Liam. Liam tended to occupy Theo’s thoughts a lot lately. The chimera did not know why he was drawn to the beta werewolf so much. Liam was quite similar to his sister. He was a quick thinker and had an equally quick wit just like Tara did. He was also selfless like her. Theo could not count how many times Liam had helped him over the past few months. Theo did not deserve his help. He could not understand why Liam was doing so much for him. Theo had manipulated him into almost killing Scott, Liam’s very own Alpha. There was a long list of other ways Theo had hurt or betrayed Liam and the rest of the McCall pack, yet Liam still treated Theo like a friend.

Liam was the closest friend Theo had had in a long time. Theo smiled lightly to himself thinking about Liam. He was still standing on the bridge looking over the water, but he had run out of lilies to drop in the stream. As the lilies drifted downstream, Theo could see his reflection in the water. He was actually smiling, Theo could not believe what he was seeing. Surely the reflection had to be distorting his face somehow and it only looked like he was smiling. That had to be it, Theo thought.

Chuckling to himself, Theo turned away from the water to start heading back. Although he was feeling depressed when he first decided to come out to the bridge, he felt better now.

He looked up at the sky. It had gotten a lot darker out since he had first gotten there. Theo did not want to worry Liam by staying out here too late. Just when Theo was off the bridge and setting out into the woods again, he heard a twig snap. While the rational part of his brain told him that it was just an animal and that it was not some terrifying monster out to kill him, Theo still jumped anyway. He turned around and cursed his luck. Sure enough, on the other side of the bridge, appeared to be a terrifying monster waiting to kill him. The man appeared to be a hellhound, with orange glowing eyes and sparks of flame coming off his bare chest. However, Theo only knew of one hellhound in Beacon Hills and this guy was definitely not him.

The hellhound smiled creepily and growled. “You were never meant to be let out, but don’t worry, I’m going to put you back where you came from. I’ll stop you. Nothing else matters,” the beast said monotonously.

Theo swallowed nervously and backed up a few steps. He could not seem to decide whether to trust his flight or his fight instincts and he ended up being stuck, motionless before the hellhound. The only thought that was running through his mind was, “Oh no.”

 

* * *

 

Liam could tell something was wrong when he got out of Mason’s car and could not smell a trace of Theo. Scott and Malia could not detect him either. Deciding to check inside just to be sure, Liam rushed around his house.

“Hello? Anyone home? Theo?”

After searching and finding nothing, Liam went back outside to join his friends.

“He’s not here. Based on his scent, I think he’s been gone for a few hours or so. I don’t smell the hellhound though, so that’s a good sign, right?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s a good sign, but it could mean that the hellhound knows where Theo is at already so he didn’t need to come here,” Scott said.

“We need to find him! There’s no way Theo could take on that guy alone, he was terrifying,” Liam said.

“Yeah, that dude almost killed Parrish and Liam so Theo would definitely be toast if he went up against that guy, literally,” Mason added.

“Not helping,” Liam growled out.

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay, Liam. Don’t worry. We’ll find him. Do you have any idea where he could have gone? You seem to know him the best out of all of us,” Lydia asked.

“I don’t know. He hasn’t texted me or anything. I don’t know where he’d go this late at night.”

“Theo has a car, right? Maybe someone has seen it. If we found his car, we’d probably find him close by,” Malia suggested.

“You’re right. He doesn’t park it here, though, my dad would get suspicious. He usually parks it a block or so down the road. I don’t see it in the same spot it was this morning. That’s it! We just have to find his car. Wait, Malia, why are you helping us? I thought you hated Theo?” Liam said.

“What? I can still hate him and help you guys out at the same time, can’t I? Plus, I would rather find him alive and watch as he gets murdered than find his dead body,” Malia said rather cheerfully considering she was talking about someone getting murdered.

“We should ask Sheriff Stilinski if anyone has seen Theo’s car around. You know what kind it is, don’t you, Liam?” Scott said.

“Yeah, I could describe it to him. Would he still be at the station this late?”

“Only one way to find out. Let’s go,” Scott said. The group quickly returned to their cars and headed to the Beacon Hills’ police department.

 

* * *

 

“Goodnight, everyone. See you all tomorrow.”

Noah Stilinski had grabbed his coat, bag, and his coffee cup, and he was about to head out the door. His shift was over, he could finally go home and get some much-needed rest. That was what he thought, at least, before he turned around and saw the group of teenagers standing in the lobby of the station.

“Why do I get the feeling that I’m going to be stuck here for a while?”

“Theo’s missing,” Liam said.

“Oh, good for him. Why should I care?”

“We think there’s another hellhound after him. Parrish and I tried to fight him but we couldn’t slow him down. We have to find Theo before the hellhound does,” said Liam. “We know Theo drove his car somewhere, so we were hoping you could tell us if anyone has seen it recently?”

After receiving a look that pretty much said, “Are you kidding me?” from the sheriff, Liam said, “Look, I know it’s a lot to ask, but can’t you just check to see if anyone has seen signs of Theo, his car, or the hellhound?”

“Okay, fine,” Sheriff Stilinski said with a sigh and disappeared back into his office.

“I’ll be darned, about an hour ago we got a call about what appeared to be a man on fire heading into Beacon Hills preserve. I forgot all about it, I just assumed it was Parrish doing something weird again.”

“Thank you!” Liam blurted out as he rushed out the doors of the police station. Everyone else tried their best to keep up with him as he made his way towards the parking lot. He stopped once he reached their cars.

“We have to get to the preserve! I think I know where he is.”


	4. Nothing Else Matters

“Woah. Liam, slow down. How do you know where he is?” Scott asked.

“Stiles and I followed him into the woods one time when Stiles was suspicious of him. We found him at this bridge, it was over the stream that his sister died in,” Liam said.

“You mean the stream where he killed his sister?” Malia added.

“That’s beside the point. He said that he visits there frequently, so maybe that’s where he’s at now. We need to go there now!” Liam said, practically jumping up and down.

“Do you remember where exactly this bridge is?” Lydia asked.

“Well, ummm, last time I was only really following Stiles, and I wasn’t really paying attention, and I kinda fell in a hole, so no, I don’t remember where the bridge is,” Liam said.

The whole pack collectively groaned. Theo was going to be harder to find than they had originally suspected.

“We should at least start looking for him. Maybe if we go to the preserve Liam, Malia, or I will be able to pick up his scent. The preserve is a large amount of land but we have to start somewhere,” Scott said.

The group piled into their cars yet again and set off towards the infamous woods of Beacon Hills.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Theo? You two seem awfully close,” Mason asked while driving with Liam on the way to the preserve.

“I don’t really know. I mean, everyone keeps telling me he’s my responsibility, so I want to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble or anything,” Liam responded.

“Him being your responsibility does not mean you have to let him stay at your house. He’s not a child; you don’t have to take care of him.”

“Wouldn’t you do the same if Corey was in Theo’s position?”

“Yeah, of course, but Corey isn’t an insane maniac that killed his own sister. Plus, I love Corey. Are you trying to tell me something about you and Theo?” Mason looked at Liam suggestively.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. That was a bad example. Forget I said anything.”

What did Liam think about Theo? Mason’s comment ran through his mind. Liam thought that letting Theo stay with him and taking care of him was the least he could do, but everyone else seemed to think he was going above and beyond to help him. Liam thought that anyone would do the same thing in his position.

Being honest with himself, Liam had really enjoyed having Theo stay with him for the summer. They had played video games together, talked, laughed, and had pretty much done everything together. It was like Theo was Liam’s shadow; they were inseparable. Liam was dreading school because he would not get to spend as much time with Theo.

Why did Liam enjoy spending so much time with the chimera? Most people could not stand to be in the same room as him. Liam did not know what to think. He never got tired of being around Theo. With Liam’s temper, he would normally get agitated with anyone he spent too much time with, but not with Theo. Sure, they would argue and have conflicts frequently, but they were never serious. It seemed like fighting only strengthened their relationship. After that summer, Liam and Theo’s relationship was stronger than ever. Liam pondered their relationship. Surely it was nothing more than a friendship that had grown between the two teens. However, Liam wondered if it could ever be something more.

“Hey, Liam, snap out of it, we’re here,” Mason said, interrupting Liam’s train of thought. Both Liam and Mason got out of the car. Scott, Malia, and Lydia were driving right behind them, and they all got out of their car, as well. In front of them was another parked car. It took Liam a minute to get a good look at it in the dark.

“That’s definitely Theo’s car. I knew he was here. He’s gotta be at that bridge,” Liam said excitedly. He started heading towards Theo’s car. He was inhaling deeply through his nose, trying to pick up Theo’s scent. It was faint, but Liam could definitely smell a trace of the chimera. What worried Liam was that he could also smell a trace of the mysterious hellhound that he had fought earlier. Following his nose, Liam rushed off into the woods. He hoped he was not too late to save Theo.

Guessing that Liam had found Theo’s scent, the rest of the pack followed quickly behind him.

 

* * *

 

 

“You were never meant to be let out, but don’t worry, I’m going to put you back where you came from. I’ll stop you. Nothing else matters,” the beast said monotonously.

“Oh no,” Theo thought. He was face to face with what looked like another hellhound. While what the hellhound said was vague, Theo had a pretty good idea that the new hellhound was here to kill him. The new hellhound roared and burst into flames. Now there was no doubt, Theo knew that this hellhound was definitely here to kill him. Theo thought it was ironic that the _one_ day he decides to leave Liam’s house on his own also happens to be the one day that he gets attacked by an evil hellhound. He was never leaving Liam’s house again.

Theo’s yellow eyes gleamed as he bared his fangs. Theo had two options, he could run for his life or stand and fight. Theo remembered what Liam had said to him at the hospital when they were hiding from the ghost riders, “We’re both getting caught. You can do it while you’re running, I’m going down fighting.” Theo remembered the look in Liam’s eyes when he said those words. Theo could see the fear in his eyes, but that did not stop Liam from fighting with everything he had. Liam had given Theo the courage to take on a hospital full of ghost riders then, he knew he could take on a single hellhound now. Theo’s only option was to stand and fight. He did not think he had much of a chance—only being a chimera and not even a true werewolf—but he would still fight with everything he had, for Liam.

  

* * *

 

“Hey guys, I think this is the hole I fell into from before! We must be getting close,” Liam yelled at his friends who were trailing behind him. They were having a hard time keeping up with Liam. Theo’s scent was getting stronger which made Liam quicken his pace. He felt bad for not sticking close to his friends, but he had to get to Theo.

 

* * *

 

With Liam on his mind, Theo extended his claws and rushed forward to face the hellhound before him. Crossing the bridge, Theo reached the hellhound. The fight was on. Theo could not get a good hit in. The hellhound was dodging or blocking everything Theo threw at him. Theo could feel the hellfire singe his hands as he swiped at his enemy time and time again with no effect of the beast. The hellhound seemed to be toying with Theo. He was practically laughing at him with the way he dodged all of Theo’s attacks. Miraculously, Theo felt his claws graze against the hellhound’s chest. The beast roared at Theo. Feeling confident, Theo swung at the enemy again. However, before his attack could land, the hellhound dodged, grabbing Theo’s arm in the process. The hellhound flung Theo backwards onto the ground. Theo felt the wind get knocked out of him as his back collided with the ground. Theo got up as fast as he could. The hellhound was fighting mercilessly now. Apparently, Theo landing a hit on him earlier made him take the fight seriously. He landed hit after hit on Theo. Theo could feel the burn of hellfire whenever the beast’s claws raked across his chest.

Theo had to do something, he was losing badly. He dodged the beast’s attacks as best as he could while he tried to think of a way to get an advantage on the hellhound. Seeing the bridge behind the hellhound’s back, he thought of an idea. It was risky, but it was worth a shot. He quickly ducked under a blow aimed at his chest and ran out to the center of the bridge. Theo roared at the hellhound. The beast was stunned that Theo has escaped him but he turned around to face him again.

“Come on! Come and get me!” Theo yelled at him, yet again taking on the role of bait. The hellhound walked forward towards the bridge. Theo smirked, now was his last chance. If he had to go down now, he would go down fighting.

 

* * *

 

Liam’s practically jumped out of his skin. He heard a voice, not just any voice either, he heard Theo. Liam took off in a sprint. Scott and the rest of the group ran to keep up with him. Reaching a clearing in the dense woods, they saw the bridge they had been looking for. On the bridge was the hellhound with his hands wrapped around Theo’s neck. Theo’s back was pressed up against the railing of the bridge. He was gasping for breath, but the hellhound’s hold on him was not loosening.

Liam could not move a muscle. He felt like his heart stopped beating. As soon as he saw Theo barely hanging on to consciousness, time stopped. It was like his life was flashing before his eyes, only, it was not his own life, it was his life with Theo flashing before his eyes. He thought of every moment, good and bad, he had with Theo. He thought about every fight they had had and how he regretted so many things he had said to Theo. He thought about every laugh they shared. Theo always laughed whenever Liam did something stupid, which happened a lot. Liam was not even embarrassed about it, he could listen to Theo’s laugh all day long. He thought about Theo’s smile. He only realized now how much he loved his smile. It was rare to see a genuine smile from Theo, but on the rare occasion when he would smile, it would light up the room. He thought about Theo’s past and how much he had changed. Liam was proud of him. He wanted everyone to see the person Theo had become, the person Liam was in love with.

The realization washed over Liam like a wave. He was in love with Theo. Liam could not believe that it had taken this long for him to realize it. Now that he had realized how he felt about him, he was not going to let anyone take Theo away from him, including the hellhound that was currently choking the life out of the chimera. Liam growled loudly at the hellhound.

“Let go of him,” he seethed.

Finally noticing Liam and the others, the hellhound lost his focus for one second. That second was enough to let Theo slip out of his hold. With every bit of strength he had left, Theo grabbed onto the hellhound and pushed him backwards until his back hit the bridge railing. With his body still on fire, the wood smoldered underneath him. With a loud crack, the railing broke and the hellhound started falling backwards. Theo turned to Liam and smiled. Thinking he had finally beaten the hellhound, he breathed a sigh of relief. However, as he was falling, the hellhound reached up and grabbed the collar of Theo’s shirt, digging his claws deep into Theo’s chest as he did so. With a cry of agony, Theo was pulled over the side of the bridge with the beast. The water was frigid. When the hellhound plunged into it, his hellfire was extinguished instantly.

 

* * *

 

Liam could do nothing but watch as the hellhound latched onto Theo as he was falling. Liam had been so happy to see Theo smile at him, to see that he was okay. However, his happiness faded fast as he saw Theo’s face contort in pain and heard a cry escape his lips.

“No!” Liam shouted as Theo fell into the icy stream with the hellhound. Liam rushed to the edge of the water. It was dark red. Liam cringed as the metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils. He scanned the water rapidly for any sign of movement. Suddenly, he saw someone’s back bob up out of the water, the person was wearing clothes so it had to be Theo. He did not hesitate before he jumped in. With a combination of walking, jumping, and swimming Liam reached Theo, still floating motionless—face-down—in the water. Being as careful as possible, Liam dragged an unconscious Theo out of the water.

Once Liam had gotten both himself and Theo back on dry land again, he laid the unconscious teen on the ground. Theo’s lips had a blue tint to them from the chilled water he had fallen into. Liam took off his own jacket and wrapped it around Theo. Scanning Theo’s body, Liam saw a multitude of burn marks and cuts from the hellhound’s claws. Theo’s hands were burned the worst from when he had pushed the hellhound into the railing of the bridge. The biggest cuts were in the upper middle of his chest from when the hellhound had grabbed at his shirt collar. His clothing was in shreds. Through the tears in the fabric, Liam could already see signs of dark bruises forming. With how badly Theo was hurt, Liam was lucky that he could still hear a faint heartbeat coming from Theo, but he was not breathing.

“No no no no no. Theo! Wake up! Don’t do this to me.” There was desperation in Liam’s voice. He had never felt more powerless in his life. His heart was beating rapidly and his hands were shaking. Suddenly, Theo jerked violently and started coughing. He pushed himself onto his side and coughed out whatever water he taken in from the stream. Once it seemed like the worst of the coughing fit was over, Liam threw his arms around Theo, knocking him onto his back again.

“How dare you make me worry about you. What were you thinking? You could’ve died,” Liam said with his voice slightly muffled in Theo’s shoulder.

“You’re the idiot that didn’t even think to give me CPR. If I died— ”

Theo’s voice was cut off as Liam suddenly kissed him. Theo hungrily kissed Liam back. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing heavily.

“You do know that that’s not how CPR works, right?” Theo said.

“Shut up,” Liam said before kissing Theo again.

“Seriously? I thought I was safe from all the PDA after Hayden left. Get a room,” Mason said with a groan.

Liam moved off of Theo reluctantly. He had forgotten his friends were here, too. Scott grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled him to his feet. Liam did the same for Theo. With how weak Theo was at the moment, Liam pulled Theo’s arm around his own shoulder to support him.

Liam learned from Scott that the hellhound had cracked his skull on a rock when he fell into the water. That was why the water was so bloody, it was mostly from him, not Theo. Scott also said that the hellhound had died due to the head injury. Liam was glad, in a way, that the hellhound was dead. If he had escaped alive, he would most likely go after Theo again. Liam was glad that Theo was safe. Nothing else mattered to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! I hope you enjoyed the ending. I was originally going to split this chapter up into two chapters but I couldn't find a good stopping point (I always have to make chapter endings dramatic lol), so sorry about how long this chapter was. Thank you to everyone who read, commented, and left kudos on this fic. I really appreciate it!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. I saw this theory on Tumblr originally and thought I would write a story based on it. I wish I could link to the original post but I can't find it. But all the credit goes to Teen Wolf for the characters and all the credit for the plot goes to that Tumblr post I saw.


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